


More than Nothing

by akcott



Category: Pushing Daisies
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-06 23:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1112713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akcott/pseuds/akcott
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ned the Piemaker and Olive Snook the Pie waitress finally make their way to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Olive Snook was lounging on her floral couch in her bright and colorful living room. She had just returned from an average day at the Piehole. Exhausted from a long day on her feet, Olive could not even conjure the energy to answer the bright ring of the doorbell.   
“Come in,” she called from her current position. Pigby, however, was the first to meet the visitor. Olive heard the door open and shut and footsteps coming towards her before she wondered if she actually knew the person.   
“Hi Olive,” Ned said shyly. He walked in hesitantly, as if he was waiting for her objection. She didn’t, so he continued into the cozy, and very tiny, room. Since she had returned only moments before, she hadn’t been doing anything at all when Ned arrived. His presence was like a triple espresso and her energy came right back when she saw him.  
“Hiya Ned! What brings you to my neck of the hallway?”   
“Just, stopping by.” Why had Ned “stopped by” to see Olive? He hadn’t originally intended to as he was walking up to his apartment. After all, Chuck was waiting for him right next door. He quickly shook the contemplative thoughts of “why” out of his head.  
“Well gee, I’m sure dashed,” she said in her typical Olive way of speaking. “I wasn’t expecting anyone tonight.”  
“It was kind of a spur of the moment thing,” Ned bashfully admitted. He wasn’t normally the spur of the moment kind of guy, but sometimes he couldn’t help but act differently around Olive. He knew that he had Chuck. He knew that he and Olive were just good friends. He even knew that Olive sometimes wished it was more than that. All of the facts, he knew, but Olive still had a strange effect on him.  
“Well aren’t you sweeter than a honey glazed ham!” As she said this, Ned blushed like he was still in school, Olive noticed this as well. There was a silence that fell over the room. It was not an awkward silence, both Ned and Olive were perfectly content without saying anything. Their silence was interrupted by the opening of the door.  
“Olive have you seen my beekeeping book anywhe-“ The girl called Chuck stopped short of finishing her sentence when she saw that Ned was there too. “Oh hi Ned.”  
“Chuck,” Ned felt as if he had been caught breaking the rules. He hadn’t done anything wrong at all, but felt as if he had.  
“I think you left that book down in the kitchen this morning,” Olive said, trying to be helpful.  
“Oh thanks Olive, I think sometimes I’m more forgetful than an amnesiac.” Olive couldn’t agree more, Chuck often forgot things. Chuck got up to leave when she quickly turned back. “Ned, could you come with me to get the book? Please…”  
“Sure Chuck,” he got up and headed for the door. Olive, once again, felt as if she was being left out of Chuck and Ned’s world. She felt a pang of loneliness. Ned turned around as he was approaching the door. “Goodnight Olive,” he told her. It was a simple goodbye, but it meant more to Olive than Ned could ever have known.  
“Goodnight Ned.” Once again, Olive was left by herself after a long day. She smiled to herself as she thought about Ned’s unexpected visit. “It was nothing,” she said to herself out loud. “I should probably stop talking to myself, people will really think I’m crazy if I don’t. Ok, I’m stopping…now.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Ned? Where are you?” Olive Snook called out from the kitchen of the Pie Hole.  
“I’m over here,” he replied. The two of them met in the doorway and Ned took Olive into his arms and looked deep into her eyes. Olive felt like he was looking at her soul. They then shared a kiss so full love, so full of passion, that not even the angriest person in the world could feel hate. All of Olive’s dreams were coming true.  
“Olive, I have something to tell you,” the pie maker told her. Her heart started racing because she knew what would happen next, it was always the same. “Olive Snook, I love-“  
“Oh Ned, there you are,” the girl called Chuck called across the crowded Pie Hole, beginning to make her way towards Olive and Ned.  
“Chuck! I’ve missed you.” He and the girl called Chuck walked out of the Pie Hole hand in hand. Olive’s best dream had now become her worst nightmare.  
Olive Snook jolted awake. She was breathing heavily and franticly looking at her surroundings. Finally, she realized where she was and that it had only been a dream. She tried to calm down, but her heart was pounding faster than a hummingbird’s. When she glanced at her clock, she saw that it was 3:37 in the morning. She had to get up in just a few short hours.  
“I’ll just go back to sleep and tomorrow will be just the same as it always is. Damn, I’m talking to myself again.” Miss Snook soon found out that neither of these statements would be true. For the next three hours, Olive stared at the ceiling, not able to fall back asleep. She was completely exhausted, but her mind wouldn’t stop churning.  
At 6:30, Olive decided she was tired of being awake and just staring, as she had been. She got up and proceeded to get ready for another long day at the Pie Hole. If any of the days were more heartbreaking than the others, it was always the ones after Olive dreamed of her one true love, the pie maker.  
Olive put on her uniform and headed down early. She needed to bake a pie, or at least eat one. Pie always made her feel better. Her excuse for that was simply that everyone loved pie, but deep down Olive knew it was because Ned was so passionate about pie and always made the best. She hoped one day he could be that passionate about her.  
As Olive walked down the stairs, she heard a clanging around from the kitchen. Oh no, not another break-in, she thought to herself, not out loud, which she was very proud of. She continued walking down, keys in hand, ready to stab the intruder at a moments notice. Step by step, she got more and more nervous.  
“Shit!” Olive heard, the voice was familiar and a strong calm feeling immediately washed over her.  
“Ned?” Olive inquired, “Is that you?”  
“Yes, it’s me,” he called back.  
“What are you doing down here so early?” Olive knew that he was dedicated to the Pie Hole, but she didn’t think he ever started before 7:00.  
“I was baking. I forgot about a few orders for today.” Olive knew that was a lie, Ned never forgot about anything, especially when it concerned pie.  
“Oh,” she sat silently while thinking for a moment. “But you never forget about that kind of thing,” she finally blurted out.  
“I guess I did just this once,” he paused. That was a lie as well, although Olive didn’t notice that time. He was really there because he couldn’t stop thinking of his stop by Olive’s apartment the night before. He looked up at her and then thought of something else. “Wait, what are you doing here? You don’t have to work until ten.”  
“Just needed pie.” He smiled briefly.  
“I can help with that. What kind?”  
“Triple berry, a la mode. Please.”  
“Coming right up,” he smiled again and walked back to the kitchen. Olive, although she only stood at 4’11’’, felt as if she was miles above the top of the building. Even if she did only have Ned as a friend, he was still Ned. For now, she and Ned were alone in the Pie Hole. Him, baking pies, her, eating them. Ned’s smile had changed Olive’s mood from completely depressed to ecstatic. She was content, at least for the time being.  
Olive and Ned had been sitting at the counter of the Pie Hole for a while now. Olive had eaten five slices, and Ned had made four pies. They had talked about everything and nothing. The Pie Hole was about ready to open, so Olive was slowly getting up to start the coffee machine and get things ready for the day. Just before she stood, Charlotte Charles walked through the doors, seeing Olive and Ned sitting across the counter from each other, gazing into each others eyes. They hadn’t seen her yet, so she quickly walked around to the street entrance.  
“Hi Ned, hi Olive,” Chuck said. She knew she sounded different. Both Ned and Olive had noticed something was wrong, but they hadn’t thought to ask.


	3. Chapter 3

Chuck sat at the counter a few seats down from where Olive was. She didn’t want to seem jealous, but in truth, she had never felt this emotion stronger. Olive got up to start the coffee machine before the first customers arrived, but her mind was elsewhere. Her mind was still back at the counter eating pie with Ned. She had started the morning with sorrow in her heart, but now not even Chuck could bring her down.   
Ned was back in the kitchen making more pies for the day when he saw Chuck take her seat. He once again noticed that it looked like something was bothering her. He knew that he should go over and ask what it was, that’s what he was supposed to do. His mind was also still at the counter with Olive. He didn’t know why he kept thinking about her, and he often felt bad about it because of Chuck. After a few moments of hesitation, he finally set the pie aside and walked over to her. Olive saw him and once again realized that he loved Chuck and not her.  
“Hi Chuck,” he said quietly. She looked up at him sadly  
“Hello Ned,” her voice was more formal than normal, but it still had the capability to keep Ned in suspense as to what had changed in the last few hours.  
“Chuck, is there-.” He stopped and saw the questioning look in her eyes. “Has there been something-.“ he paused again, not exactly knowing how to approach this. “Has there been something bothering you?” Chuck sighed dramatically, and that said it all.  
“Oh Ned, it’s nothing. Really.” Ned was pretty sure she was lying. In fact, he knew that she was hiding something from him. He reluctantly decided to ask again.  
“What’s wrong Chuck?” She sighed again even more dramatically than the last time. Olive noticed and looked up from the coffee cup she was filling, letting it over flow just slightly. It nearly drenched the customer with scalding hot liquid. Ned looked at Chuck sincerely. “It’s ok, whatever it is. Just tell me.”  
Olive quickly wiped off the table she spilled on and took a detoured route back to the coffee maker. If no one would tell her what was happening, she was going to find out herself. Nothing was going to get in her way.  
“Well I don’t know if now would be the right time,” Olive over heard Chuck saying to Ned. She saw her look around the Pie Hole, “Or the right place.” Olive was very intrigued now. She not only wanted to know what was happening, she needed to know.  
“Now is certainly the right time,” Ned was beginning to ramble. “There is never a wrong time to discuss a potentially good or potentially bad thing. However hiding things from people you shouldn’t be hiding things from is never a good thing. Take it from someone who’s had to keep a lot of secrets in his lifetime. And in regard to the place, places can be changed as easy as a blink of an eye, or rather a few swift movements.” Ned’s quick speaking abilities had helped him achieve his incredible rambling skills, but it also made him ramble whenever he was nervous. Chuck agreed with everything he had said and stood up from her chair.  
“I guess that would be alright. We could go back upstairs for a bit.” As Olive heard this she felt her heart sink. She watched them walk towards the door feeling completely abandoned. The morning had started off so well, but things can change so quickly whenever the heart is concerned.   
“Olive,” Ned called out to her from the door.  
“Huh?” she replied, quickly deserting her thoughts of heartbreak.  
“I’m going out for a while. I don’t think I’ll be gone too long.” Olive nodded and smiled as they walked out the door, once again leaving her alone at the Pie Hole. This morning, Olive was happy as a clam because of the pie-maker. Now, she felt as if her heart was breaking for him all over again. She couldn’t even count the number of times this had happened since she met him.  
As Ned and Chuck made their way up the stairs, Ned felt his anticipation building. Chuck wasn’t as nervous as he was, but they both knew this “confrontation” had the possibility of a bad ending. The walk was a slow and silent one, filled with much emotional stewing. Olive still waited alone in the Pie Hole.  
“So what is it that’s bothering you Chuck?”  
“Well, I feel a little bit silly even bringing this up because I think, well I don’t know. It just seems like you and Olive are really close, closer than you ever have been before. I don’t mean to say that you shouldn’t be friends with Olive, because I’m not. I’m friends with Olive too and she a great person. I just, I don’t know…” She trailed away with her thoughts waiting for Ned’s reaction.  
“Chuck, are you jealous, of Olive?” He was flabbergasted. The only time he and Olive had been any closer than normal in the recent past was that morning. Chuck hadn’t been there then, or so he thought.  
“Maybe I am, just a little bit. Ned, you are able to touch her, and you can’t even hold my hand or hug me.” Ned’s head was filling with thoughts of Olive. They had known each other for a number of years and they had become good friends over that time.  
“It’s Olive, she’s just my friend. Chuck, you know that you’re the one I really care about in that way. Olive and I could never be anything more than friends…” As Ned continued to ramble, trying to convince himself more than Chuck, he had no idea that just outside the door was Olive Snook herself. As soon as she heard that Ned could never think of her as anything more than a friend, she ran, faster than she ever had before. Her heart was not only broken, now it was shattered. She couldn’t stand to listen any longer.  
Back in his apartment, Ned was still rambling. “You have absolutely nothing to worry about.”  
“Really?” Chuck looked at him hopefully.  
“Of course. You know I love you Olive.”


	4. Chapter 4

As her heart was splitting and her soul was falling apart, Olive Snook ran through the hall and down the stairs faster than Pi himself, the horse not the food. She didn’t know where she was going, but she couldn’t stay anywhere near Chuck, Ned or the Pie Hole. For now, she just needed to escape. Olive could feel tears building in her eyes but she promised herself she wouldn’t cry over Ned, he hadn’t really been hers to begin with. She shouldn’t feel bad about losing someone who she never had in the first place. As she was running and all of these thoughts were running through her head, she remembered she was wearing heels, and four inch heels were not easy to run in. As Olive began to slow down, she saw the ground getting closer and closer to her face.  
Clunk! “Ouch,” Olive said with a grimace. She had fallen on her arm and thought it might be broken. It was already an unusual color and swelling as she sat there. While Olive was lying on the floor in pain, Chuck and Ned were still upstairs with what they thought was a finished conversation.  
“…You know I love you Olive,” Ned said, with the deepest sincerity in his eyes. He hadn’t even realized the severity of his last sentence.  
“What!” Chuck’s abruptness startled Ned. He quickly thought back to his sentence, still not realizing he sad said the wrong name. “You know I love you Olive?” she shouted at him, using his direct words against him.  
“Chuck, what are you talki-“ his words suddenly came back to him. “Oh, oh no.” Chuck began to storm out of the room. “Chuck, wait.”  
“No,” she shouted back to him.  
“Come on Chuck, just let me explain,” he pleaded, not wanting her to leave.  
“Ned, I knew there was something happening there with Olive, you guys have been friends for such a long time. I just didn’t realize that you loved her. I mean, you never actually said you loved me, but I guess now I know why. I’m sorry Ned,” she paused and Ned knew right away what would be said next. “But I can’t be with you if you can’t say you love me, your own girlfriend, but you can say you love Olive without even thinking twice!”  
“Chuck, don’t do this.”  
“I have to go, I can’t handle this anymore.” She stormed out the door leaving Ned to watch her go. Breakups were always hard, even in these special circumstances. The world always seemed a little bit bigger once you were on your own again.  
Olive had slowly gotten up from her fall and was on her way back to the Pie Hole. She wasn’t even a block away, but the distance looked much farther to Olive. Her arm was throbbing and she needed someone, hopefully not Ned or Chuck, to take her to the doctor. She was walking slowly this time, being extremely careful not to fall again. Just as she was reaching for the door, it flew open and Chuck rushed out. When she saw Olive she stopped abruptly.  
“Hey Olive, I just wanted to say goodbye to you. I don’t think I’m coming back, at least not for a very long while.” Olive was secretly doing internal cartwheels, but just then another thought popped into her head.  
“Why? Are you and Ned going somewhere?” Olive asked, hoping this wasn’t the case. There were two possible situations at this point, one was very good, and the other very bad.  
“Well no. I’m going away alone, without Ned.” Olive felt bad for Chuck, but completely thrilled for herself. By now she had completely forgotten about her swollen arm, which was now comparable to that of Emerson.  
“Oh Chuck, I’m sorry. What happened?” Olive was so curious that she didn’t care that Chuck obviously didn’t want to disclose any information to Olive.  
“I don’t really feel much like talking about it. Besides, I think Ned should tell you this story…” Chuck took one last look at the Pie Hole and then back to Olive. “Olive, I really will miss you, but I have to go. Tell Emerson I said goodbye too.”  
“I will.”  
“Thanks,” said the girl called Chuck as she walked away from the Pie Hole for the last time.  
As soon as Chuck left, Olive remembered her gigantic arm and walked inside. Ned was in the kitchen with a haunted look on his face. Emerson was nowhere in sight, so Olive had no other choice than her “friends only” boss.  
“Ned,” Olive inquired from the door.  
“Huh?” he looked up. “Oh, hi Olive.”  
“So, umm, could you maybe…Well, I was wondering…” Ned looked up from his pie, well more like down at her tiny figure, wondering what she wanted. He hoped Olive hadn’t talked to Chuck because he really didn’t want to have to expand on what had happened.  
“Are you busy right now?” she finally asked.  
“Well, kind of, I’ve got a few pies to make. Why?”  
“I need a ride to the hospital,” Olive had finally caught Ned’s attention.  
“What happened?” he asked worriedly. She looked down to her arm and her then saw that it was purple and swollen and he quickly walked toward her. “Oh no, how did that happen?”  
“Well, it’s a long story.” It was true, but Olive was more than a little bit embarrassed about the “how” of this story.  
“Come on, you can tell me on the way.”  
Olive and Ned were sitting in the car as Olive was frantically trying to figure out a believable story. Ned was thinking about all that Chuck had said to him, how much of it was really true? He decided to forget about all of that for now and listen to Olive’s long story.  
“So what happened to your arm?” Olive sighed and decided she would just wing it.  
“Well it’s a funny story…”  
“Really? I didn’t know bone-breaking injuries are often humorous.”  
“Well, you know me, I always like to keep things entertaining.” Ned laughed and smiled at Olive. They locked eyes for a moment and Olive completely forgot about the heartache she felt earlier. She realized that she was staring and quickly looked away blushing. “Anyways,” she returned to her story. “Here’s what happened. I was down in the Pie Hole and then I realized, all of the sudden, out of the blue, like a decapitated puppet, that I, Olive Snook, pie waitress extraordinaire, had…” she paused. Olive had no clue what to say, so she coughed to stall more than she already had. Thank goodness for her talkative nature.  
“Olive? Are you okay?” Ned looked over at her.  
“Yup,” she finally stopped coughing, “I’m okay. So where was I? Oh yeah! I, Olive Snook, needed to walk Digby. So I got him and then when I was walking, I fell! Silly me…” she chuckled.  
“You were right, that is kind of funny,” Olive let out a silent sigh of relief, “especially since Digby is still in my apartment,” Ned smiled back at her.  
“Oh,” Olive began to panic. “That’s because when I fell, I let go of his leash and he ran back home.” She smiled and laughed nervously.  
“How’d he get in?”  
“Through the dog door silly!” Olive continued laughing and Ned looked at her and smiled.  
“But I don’t have a dog door,” Ned replied suspiciously.  
“You do now, surprise!” Just as they both began laughing, a nurse walked onto the waiting room and called Olive’s name. She looked back at Ned, “I guess this means I got to go.”  
“Okay. I’ll be here when you get done.”  
“You don’t have to stay, you know,” she told him, secretly hoping he would anyways. “I can call someone to come and get me later.”  
“No, I want to stay.”  
“You do?” Olive said, sounding so hopeful.  
“Yeah, I’ll always be there for you.” Olive smiled amorously and Ned blushed and looked down at the floor.  
“Ms. Snook?” the nurse called out again. This time Olive turned towards the nurse. As she was walking with the nurse, Olive looked back at Ned. He was pretending to look at a magazine, but almost everyone could tell that was not the case. Both he and Olive were pondering what it would be like to really be together, just the two of them. Olive took one last look before entering her room, and she was grateful to have Ned in her life in any way at all. He would always be there for her, and that was enough for now.


	5. Chapter 5

Olive walked back to the waiting room, a new lime green cast on her arm, completely thrilled to see Ned still waiting for her. He had fallen asleep with his head against the wall, the sun striking a bright line across his face. Olive was hesitant to wake him, but he’d already given up too much of his day for Olive to wait any longer. She walked up and sat on the chair next to Ned and softly placed her unbroken arm on his hand.  
“Ned,” Olive whispered. Ned flinched slightly, but remained asleep. “Wake up!” She nudged him a bit harder. He jolted awake, causing Olive to erupt into a spurt of giggles.  
“Oh, Olive,” Ned whipped his eyes, “I guess I dozed off for a while. What did the doctor say?”  
Olive held up her turquoise cast-covered arm. “It’s broken in two places, I have to wear the cast for 3 months. At least it’s pretty!”  
“That’s surely a plus.” Ned glanced down at his watch. “Wow, I didn’t realize what time it was, we should probably head back to the Pie Hole.”  
“Yeah, those ER nurses sure like to take their time, it’s like they’re trying to win the “slow worker of the year award!” Ned softly chuckled as the two of them got up and walked to Ned’s car. Before she was able to reach the handle, Ned swept in front of her and opened her door for her. She hated to admit it to herself, but she felt a rush of adrenaline as Ned performed his gentlemanly duties. She sat down and he closed the door before quickly moved to the driver’s side.   
“Back to the Pie Hole I guess,” Ned stated. He looked over at Olive and quickly realized that she was staring at him. “What is it?”  
“Well, before I came into the Pie Hole I ran into Chuck.” Olive let the sentence fade away, not exactly sure what to say or what to expect. She was kind of hoping Chuck was really gone because she would have a chance with Ned again, but at the same time, Chuck was sort of her friend. Ned was still silent as he began to drive away from the hospital. “Uh, Ned, are you okay there?” Olive asked.  
“Chuck is gone, for good I think.” It was pretty clear that Ned didn’t want to talk about it, but Olive had taken some pain medication and wasn’t in the best place to judge the situation.  
“What happened? Did you guys have a fight?” Olive turned to face Ned completely, through the glass that was there for Chuck.  
“Um, yes I guess you could call what we had a fight, but it was mostly a misunderstanding, that led to a bigger misunderstanding, which led to Chuck leaving forever.” Oh, intrigue! Olive thought to herself.  
“And then…” she was practically begging for the whole story.  
“And then you walked into the Pie Hole with a broken arm, and here we are a few hours later.” Ned was adamant about keeping the details to a minimum.  
“That can’t be all that happened! Come on, Ned! Give me one reason, one logical reason, why you two didn’t work out.” Dang those drugs! The pain meds had obviously not affected her internal monologue.   
“I may have said something that upset her.” Ned began biting his lip, nervous for what would happen if he actually told Olive the whole story. Olive waited for him to continue, not very patiently, but she did wait. “She was over reacting to the friendship I have with you, because she saw us eating pie this morning. I tried to reason with her, to tell her that we’re just good friends, but that took a lot of convincing. And I guess even that didn’t do it, but that wasn’t what led to the break up.”  
“What was it? Now you have to tell me! You’re already this far into the story, there can’t be much more left. Please, Ned?” Olive put on her best sad face, and then held up her bright and broken arm for dramatic effect. Ned looked over briefly, and once he saw her he never stood a chance against her big green eyes. He smiled a little, though he wasn’t exactly sure why.  
“Okay, I guess I can tell you the rest. After all, it kind of has to do with you anyways.” Olive’s jaw dropped. “Well after I thought things had been resolved I told her she didn’t need to worry. Then I said something like,” he paused, not sure if he should go through with it or make something up, “I think I said ‘you know I love you, Olive’ instead of Chuck…” Ned’s heart was racing. How was Olive going to react? What if she was upset? What if she misinterpreted? What if she didn’t? He looked over to her again, but Olive was staring straight ahead. “Olive?” The roles had changed, and now she was silent. “It was just a slip of the tongue taken entirely out of proportion.”  
“Of course,” Olive laughed nervously, “what else could it have been? I’m sure things will all work out fine and everything will go back to normal.” This was a lie. It was the complete opposite of what Olive wanted to happen, but it wasn’t as if she could profess her love to Ned right then.  
“I’m not so sure I want things to go back to the way they were. Maybe this is how things are supposed to be. Chuck is gone,” he began to mumble more and more, “you and I are still here…”  
“What?” Olive couldn’t be sure of what he said, but she could sure as hell be hopeful.  
“Oh look, the Pie Hole! Thank goodness we’re back.” Olive knew that was the end of the conversation, but only for now.  
Ned quickly parked his car and sprinted to get the door for Olive, even though she assured him that she was okay. They walked back to the Pie Hole making polite chit chat because they both knew the serious talk would happen soon enough. Ned gave Olive the rest of the day off so she could rest despite her protests. He walked her upstairs and brought Digby to keep her company along with Pigby.   
“Do you need anything else before I go back to the Pie Hole?” Ned asked.  
“You’re too sweet, but I think I’m fine for now.” This, in Olive’s mind, roughly translated to “I think you know what I need,” followed by some thoughts that she was embarrassed to think.  
“Alright, I’ll come by later to get Digby then.” Ned lingered by the door a bit longer than was necessary. “See you later.”  
……….  
Olive had spent most of her afternoon watching old movies and, because of the medicine she was on, occasionally getting distracted by the patterns in her wallpaper. Try as she might not to, she thought about Ned the whole time. She should just tell him how she feels, right? Chuck was gone, and Ned seemed okay with that. If there was ever a time to do this it was now.   
“Digby, Pigby, I’m going to tell him. I’m going to tell him tonight.” Digby barked and Pigby snorted. And Ned walked into the room.  
“Tell who what?”


	6. Chapter 6

“Tell who what?” Ned said as he slowly slid into the room. Olive jumped, and Ned was actually kind of impressed with the height of said jump.  
“Oh! Ned! You’re sneakier than a snitch in a rainstorm!” Olive placed a hand to her chest, trying to calm down, and also to give herself more time to find a way out of this pickle. This had happened to her twice in one day, and Olive was not happy with that.  
“Sorry about that, but I did bring you some pie if that helps. I thought it might make your arm feel a little better.” Ned held out a pie box and slid back the lid. The delicious aroma of peach pie slowly wafted into Olive’s nose.  
“Pie always helps. “ Olive got up to get plates and forks, but Ned went ahead of her. “I’ve got it. I thought I might stay for a piece too, if you don’t mind.” Olive didn’t know, but he got these peaches especially for her pie, so he could share it with her.  
“I don’t mind at all, but I don’t think Digby or Pigby want to give up their seats.” She giggled. They occupied the two chairs, leaving only the spot next to Olive on the sofa open.   
Ned returned with two slices of pie and sat down next to Olive. “It’s fresh from the oven.”  
“Thank you so much. Pie really does make everything better. “ The TV was still on, relieving some of the pressure that silence would have brought.   
They sat with little conversation, both pretending to be very interested in a documentary on some lost coin, but really both of them were thinking about what they were going to say. They made witty remarks at the narrator, who took this coin very seriously, and they ate more pie. When the documentary ended an infomercial started up.  
“Ugh, I can’t stand these things!” Ned exclaimed.  
“What? I love them. Everything is so spiffy!”  
“They’re just trying to sell you things you don’t need and lie to you about those things. That’s really all they’re doing, selling a lie.” He didn’t say it in an angry way, just the normal Ned way, but Olive changed the channel anyways, but pretty much everything was infomercials that late at night. Olive turned off the TV and threw the remote on her side table.  
“Olive?”  
“Yes Ned?” Here was the silence, filling up every moment that he waited to say something.  
“What were you saying when I walked in?” Olive didn’t know what to say, so she just opened her mouth and hoped that something that made sense would work its way through her vocal cords.   
“Oh, look at the time! You should probably get going, lots of pies to be baked tomorrow!” She stood up and grabbed the pie plates from the table.  
“Oh, okay. I guess we can just talk some other time.” Ned got up as well, towering over Olive’s tiny frame. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Goodnight Olive. Come on Digby,” he called to his trusty companion. Before he got to the door he stopped. “Olive?”  
“Huh?”  
“If you’re not feeling up to it don’t worry about coming to the Pie Hole tomorrow, okay?” He reached for the door.  
“Ned, wait,” she called after him. He turned back, internally breathing a sigh of relief, he didn’t really want to go. “I have something I need to say.”  
“I kind of do too, but, I mean, it’s not really important, it’s nothing really.” There was an awkward pause followed by a brief tango of “you go first” “no, you” followed by both of them talking at the same time.  
“What?” they said simultaneously. Olive decided then that she would say it and deal with the consequences as they came. Come what may! She thought.  
“I was just saying,” she took a deep breath, “that I wished it wasn’t a slip of the tongue. That you actually meant what you said completely.” She held her breath, waiting for him to say something, anything at all. Ned stepped closer to Olive, dropping Digby’s leash.  
“I was just saying, well, I guess I was just saying that it wasn’t. Just a slip of the tongue, I mean.” He stood there shyly, holding his breath, waiting for her to say something, anything at all.  
She didn’t say anything.  
However, she did take a running leap into his arms, which caught him completely off guard, and then she kissed him, which caught him off guard even more.   
Sun was streaming through the windows, casting a bright streak of light onto two sets of sleeping eyes. It was early, and had anyone been there, the light would have revealed Ned and Olive sleeping in Olive’s much-too-floral room. The Pie Maker’s arm was draped around Olive’s tiny body. Clothes were thoughtlessly strewn about the room.  
Olive woke up, happier than ever, knowing that this time it wasn’t a dream. She rolled over, now facing Ned.   
“Ned,” she whispered, “Wake up.” He kept his eyes closed but shifted slightly and mumbled something Olive couldn’t understand. She kissed him sweetly, and then whispered in his ear again. He opened his eyes, smiling when he saw her beautiful green eyes staring at him.  
“Hi,” he said, rather seductively in Olive’s opinion.   
“Well,” Olive said, “last night was interesting.” She didn’t want to sound too happy about it before she knew what Ned was thinking. It was no use getting her hopes up, even now, if Ned was just going to change his mind.  
“Interesting indeed,” Ned blushed, leaning in to kiss Olive. “Interesting, and definitely more than nothing.”


End file.
